All Chapters of Little Bird: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

After my shower, I walk downstairs, entering the kitchen with my belly rumbling. “Good morning, Ms. Black. Would you like a coffee with your breakfast?” Alana asks me as she looks up. “Umm, no, thanks, I’m not a fan of coffee. It seems to just go right through me.” I explain as I sit down on the barstool in front of her. “Has Ace already left for the day?” As she places my plate of food down in front of me with a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, she nods her head, flipping the tea towel over her shoulder. “Yes, he left about an hour ago.” My brows knit together, “oh, okay. I thought after last night, he would have stayed home and caught up on some sleep.” Tucking my hair behind my ears, I try to mask my heating cheeks from her. That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. “Mr. Ripley has also requested that we go to the clinic and get you on birth control this morning.” Twisting my lips as I eye my food, “did he say what kind of birth control?” “No, he has left

ACE. As I swiftly grasp the compact bundle of papers that Ismail had dispatched, a resounding knock on my office door at Club Infinity demands immediate attention. I've been diligently tracking every single minute, fixating on the relentless movement of the hands on the grandfather clock as if I possessed the skill to manipulate time itself. I yearn to uncover the depths of Ismails' knowledge regarding Birdenes' adoption. I will exploit it ruthlessly against the Black family to secure the pipeline from Flynn without hesitation. I wanna be the lord of this whole damn city. But to make that happen, I have to get my hands on the Black family's turf, along with the Serbs, and the Kade family's turf. The Drakos' and Lopez family can keep their turf due to the blood contract my grandfather signed with the heads of their families twenty-two years ago. Besides, their dealings bring more foot traffic to my side of town, which means more bodies are filling my clubs during the weekend

Pain as I’ve never felt before licks every inch of my body as I slowly surface from the darkness. Coughing and wincing in pain, I pry my eyelids open, desperately trying to fill my starving lungs with enough air to keep them pumping. As my gaze falls on Volkov, my bottom lip trembles as reality hits me like a freight truck. Everything that had occurred before I lost consciousness flickers before me. I whimper in a tearless cry, feeling somewhat guilty for Volkovs’ death.Granted, I didn’t know him very well, but he tried to save me until the very end.“I… I’m sorry…” I whimper as I crawl over his body, feeling his sticky blood cling to the bottom of my palms like a second layer of skin. I painfully crawl through the broken windshield, slicing parts of my flesh in the process from the shattered glass that is strewn everywhere.I try not to concentrate on the pain. If I allow myself to absorb it, it will consume me entirely and prevent me from doing what I need to do next.Staggerin

Resting my head against the wall, I lower my gaze as Ele returns to the room with a cold can of Pepsi in one hand and a small bottle of pills in the other.“Hey, is everything okay?” She asks with a concerned look appearing across her face as she walks towards me. “Did my brother say something to upset you? Because if he did… I swear I will maul his eyes out with my bare fucking hands.”“Whoa…” I snort, believing every word she’s just said. “Retract those claw's kitty. He said nothing that I can’t handle on my own.” I chuckle in a light tone, pointing to the can of Pepsi and pill bottle in her hand. “Are those for me?”Thrusting them forward, “yeah. These bad boys right here are the good shizz - morphine.” She shakes the white bottle before I take it from her. “I took them from Theos’ medicine cabinet in his room. He doesn’t have a clue that I know the pin on his cabinet door.” Her lips hesitantly twist. “It’s the date our mother died.”My brows knit together at her words as I untwist

“ACE!”I jolt awake, covered in sweat, feeling like the weight of the world is pressing down on my shoulders, causing the air in the room to thin out; making it difficult for me to catch my next breath.Sitting upright in the bed, I close my eyes as I try to focus on my breathing and not the miserable life I’ve been handed. Rubbing my palm over my aching chest, I slowly swing my legs over the edge of the bed and pull myself up.The sound of the SUV rolling and the gunshot that claimed Volkovs’ life still rings loudly in my ears. Every time I close my eyes, the images of Volkov, Alana and the other henchmen lost in the crash burn my eyes and when I open them… The images begin to fade, but they don’t fade quickly enough to allow me to forget about them.My throat still feels raw and after the friendly chat I had with Ele and Theodore, I purposefully slept through dinner, doing my best to avoid them both. It’s like, no matter where I go, I always find myself trapped in someone else's